U.S. Regional Banks Post Profits
Amid Robust Demand for Loans

By

Ann Carrns

Updated April 19, 2006 12:01 a.m. ET

Five large regional banks led by Wells Fargo & Co., and the biggest savings and loan in the U.S., Washington Mutual Inc., reported higher first-quarter profit, helped by robust demand for consumer and business loans. But two Midwestern banks and an S&L in the Northeast suffered profit declines, with Fifth Third Bancorp failing to overcome the tough interest-rate environment that is bedeviling the U.S. banking industry.

The results offered a glimpse of how banks are wrestling with head winds such as the flattened...